Is This Brand Cruelty-Free? (Infographic)

Doing the research to figure out if a brand is cruelty-free or not can sometimes be frustrating and confusing. Some brands are totally transparent and will gladly help answer any questions about how they source ingredients and manufacture their products, whereas other brands will reply with very general statements complete with shady claims.

To help you figure out whether a brand is truly cruelty-free or not, I’ve created this helpful infographic to assist and guide you through the cruelty-free research!

How to Know if a Brand is Cruelty-Free or Not

1. Does {brand} test their finished products on animals?

This question ensures the brand does not test the finished product that we hold in our hands on animals– EVER.

2. Does {brand} test any of their ingredients or formulations on animals?

Often times we just think about the finished product but we also have to ensure none of the ingredients or formulations were tested on animals as well.

Although it’s true in the past that some ingredients, even water, has been subject to animal testing, but we want to make sure no newanimal tests occur. Brands usually commit and guarantee to not test their ingredients/formulations on animals after a specified date.

3. Do any of the {brand’s} ingredient suppliers test on animals?

Most brands don’t make all of their ingredients from scratch so they’ll usually source ingredients from suppliers. We want to make sure those ingredient suppliers are also not testing on animals.

This is where most brands fail to substantiate their cruelty-free status and policy. They’ll come up with excuses about having too many suppliers to conduct an in-depth cruelty-free analysis or that they switch suppliers so often that it’s too time-consuming to verify all their animal testing policy.

It’s important for brands to verify with their ingredient suppliers to ensure none of the ingredients they source are tested on animals in order to be claimed as a cruelty-free brand.

Sometimes, if the company utilises online review management software, you’ll be able to find out some information on the reviews that other buyers have left.

4. Does {brand} ask others to test any of their products or ingredients on animals on their behalf?

We asked earlier if the brand tests on animals but often times, brands will commission or ask others to do the testing for them. I know, very sneaky!

Finally, we need to ask if a brand sells in markets that require animal testing. Currently, Mainland China is the only country that requires all imported cosmetics to be tested on animals. Any cosmetic brand that is selling in-stores in Mainland China is not cruelty-free.

Cruelty-Free or Not?

If a brand can answer all of the above questions with “NO” then that means they’re considered to be cruelty-free!! And if a brand answers “YES” to a question or is unable to provide a clear answer then sadly, I wouldn’t consider them to be a cruelty-free brand.

I recommend asking all of these questions when doing your research of figuring out if a brand is cruelty-free or not. Keep in mind that just because a brand isn’t considered cruelty-free now, doesn’t mean that they can’t make changes to their policies and practices to be a cruelty-free brand in the future!

Asking these types of questions to brands ensure that they know conscious consumers care deeply about the issues of animal testing for cosmetics and we will do our research to only support brands that choose to never test on animals!

“Make ethical choices in what we buy, do, and watch. In a consumer-driven society our individual choices, used collectively for the good of animals and nature, can change the world faster than laws.”― Marc Bekoff